1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to servicing of diagnostic systems and, more particularly, to verifying the calibration status of a diagnostic system.
2. Discussion of Related Art
For current existing diagnostic systems such as, for example, optical diagnostic systems such as wavefront sensors or corneal topography systems, calibration objects are used to perform and test the hardware and software calibration of the diagnostic system. These calibration objects are standardized devices having accurately known characteristics. In general the calibration procedure requires a trained operator who mounts and aligns the calibration objects in or on the diagnostic system being calibrated.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a flow diagram of a calibration procedure for a diagnostic system. First, in step 100, a calibration object is mounted and aligned on or in front of the measurement head of the diagnostic system. After correct alignment of the calibration object, a measurement of the calibration object is performed (step 110). This step 110 is referred to as an acquisition since data is acquired from the measurement. In step 120, the collected data are processed to create a diagnostic reading. This diagnostic reading is then compared with expected results based on the known characteristics of the calibration object (step 130). Based on the result of this comparison, the operator is able determine either than the calibration was successful (step 140) or that the calibration failed, indicating a problem with either the calibration object or the diagnostic system (step 150).